3.3 Stage 1 - Targeting

Preliminary market screening and desktop research should establish the applicable legislative framework, the status of the construction product and the relevant economic operator before further market surveillance activities are undertaken. Available technical documentation, digital product information and other relevant market intelligence should be considered as part of this initial assessment.

3.3.1     Authorised officers must establish whether the construction product falls within the scope of CPR 2011 or the modernised CPR 2024. Information can be gathered from the economic operator’s portal, the Construction Digital Product Passport (DPP) registry, or via marketplace competition complaints. The checklist in Appendix X serves to establish product scope applicability under both Union frameworks. 

3.3.2     Once the scope is established, formal desktop audits focus on the geometric validity of the CE/CE+ marking, the availability of the Declaration of Performance and Conformity (DoPCD), and third-party verification files (Certificates of Constancy of Performance or Factory Production Control reports).

3.3.3     In addition, more profound checks may also be necessary to verify the conformity of the product, for example regarding the essential characteristics and basic requirements for construction works laid down in Annex I to CPR 2011 and Annex I to CPR 2024. The legitimacy of Notified Bodies and Technical Assessment Bodies (TABs) must be validated using the European Commission’s NANDO database. Appendices II, XI and XIX provide the relevant supporting guidance.

3.3.4     As part of the preliminary study, it is advisable to establish whether the economic operator under inspection is a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. In the context of the European Union, these are taken as:

• Micro enterprise - an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed €2 million;
• Small enterprise - an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed €10 million;
• Medium-sized enterprise - an enterprise which employs fewer than 250 persons and whose annual turnover does not exceed €50 million or whose annual balance-sheet total does not exceed €43 million.

3.3.5     In order to reduce the administrative burden on small and medium enterprises, in particular micro-enterprises, a range of simplification procedures aimed at simplifying the route to compliance and marking are provided under Articles 36 to 38 of CPR 2011 and Articles 59 to 61 of CPR 2024. These procedures can be availed of where the products being placed on the market do not imply significant safety or environmental concerns. The authorised officer should be aware that the use of specific technical documentation may be used by small and medium enterprises in such circumstances.